Jammu and Kashmir, state of India, located in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent in the vicinity of the Karakoram and westernmost Himalayan mountain ranges. The state is part of the larger region of Kashmir, which has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since the partition of the subcontinent in 1947.

Jhelum River at Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India.

Dr. Basharat Alam Shah

Jammu and Kashmir, formerly one of the largest princely states of India, is bounded to the northeast by the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang (China), to the east by the Tibet Autonomous Region (China) and the Chinese-administered portions of Kashmir, to the south by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, to the southwest by Pakistan, and to the northwest by the Pakistani-administered portion of Kashmir. The administrative capitals are Srinagar in summer and Jammu in winter. Area 39,146 square miles (101,387 square km). Pop. (2011) 12,541,302.

Land

The vast majority of the state’s territory is mountainous, and the physiography is divided into seven zones that are closely associated with the structural components of the western Himalayas. From southwest to northeast those zones consist of the plains, the foothills, the Pir Panjal Range, the Vale of Kashmir, the Great Himalayas zone, the upper Indus Rivervalley, and the Karakoram Range. The climate varies from alpine in the northeast to subtropical in the southwest. In the alpine area, average annual precipitation is about 3 inches (75 mm), but in the subtropical zone (around Jammu) rainfall amounts to about 45 inches (1,150 mm) per year. The entire region is prone to violent seismic activity, and light to moderate tremors are common. A strong earthquake centred in neighbouring Pakistani-administered Kashmir killed hundreds in Jammu and Kashmir state in 2005.

Streams and settlements in the mountains of Jammu and Kashmir state, northern India.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

The plains

The narrow zone of plains landscape in the Jammu region is characterized by interlocking sandy alluvial fans that have been deposited by streams discharging from the foothills and by a much-dissected pediment (eroded bedrock surface) covered by loams and loess (wind-deposited silt) of Pleistocene age (about 11,700 to 2,600,000 years old). Precipitation is low, amounting to about 15 to 20 inches (380 to 500 mm) per year, and it occurs mainly in the form of heavy but infrequent rain showers during the summer monsoon (June to September). The countryside has been almost entirely denuded of trees, and thorn scrub and coarse grass are the dominant forms of vegetation.

The foothills

The foothills of the Himalayas, rising from about 2,000 to 7,000 feet (600 to 2,100 metres), form outer and inner zones. The outer zone consists of sandstones, clays, silts, and conglomerates, influenced by Himalayan folding movements and eroded to form long ridges and valleys called duns. The inner zone consists of more-massive sedimentary rock, including red sandstones of Miocene age (roughly 5.3 to 23 million years old), that has been folded, fractured, and eroded to form steep spurs and plateau remnants. River valleys are deeply incised and terraced, and faulting has produced a number of alluvium-filled basins, such as those surrounding Udhampur and Punch. Precipitation increases with elevation, and the lower scrubland gives way to pine forests higher up.

The Pir Panjal Range

The Pir Panjal Rangeconstitutes the first (southernmost) mountain rampart associated with the Himalayas in the state and is the westernmost of the Lesser Himalayas. It has an average crest line of 12,500 feet (3,800 metres), with individual peaks rising to some 15,000 feet (4,600 metres). Consisting of an ancient rock core of granites, gneisses, quartz rocks, and slates, it has been subject to considerable uplift and fracturing and was heavily glaciated during the Pleistocene Epoch. The range receives heavy precipitation in the forms of winter snowfall and summer rain and has extensive areas of pasture above the tree line. It is drained principally by the Jhelum, Punch, and Chenab rivers.

The Vale of Kashmir is a deep asymmetrical basin lying between the Pir Panjal Range and the western end of the Great Himalayas at an average elevation of 5,300 feet (1,620 metres). During Pleistocene times it was occupied at times by a body of water known as Lake Karewa; it is now filled by lacustrine (still water) sediments as well as alluvium deposited by the upper Jhelum River. Soil and water conditions vary across the valley. The climate is characterized by annual precipitation of about 30 inches (750 mm), derived partially from the summer monsoon and partially from storms associated with winter low-pressure systems. Snowfall often is accompanied by rain and sleet. Temperatures vary considerably by elevation; at Srinagar the average minimum temperature is in the upper 20s F (about −2 °C) in January, and the average maximum is in the upper 80s F (about 31 °C) in July.

Birch trees in the western Himalayas, Jammu and Kashmir state, northern India.

Up to about 7,000 feet (2,100 metres), woodlands of deodar cedar, blue pine, walnut, willow, elm, and poplar occur. From 7,000 to 10,500 feet (3,200 metres), coniferous forests with fir, pine, and spruce are found. From 10,500 to 12,000 feet (3,700 metres), birch is dominant, and above 12,000 feet there are meadows with rhododendrons and dwarf willows as well as honeysuckle.

The Great Himalayas zone

Geologically complex and topographically immense, the Great Himalayas contain ranges with numerous peaks reaching elevations of 20,000 feet (6,100 metres) or higher, between which lie deeply entrenched remote valleys. The region was heavily glaciated during the Pleistocene Epoch, and remnant glaciers and snowfields are still present. The zone receives some rain from the southwest monsoon in the summer months—and the lower slopes are forested—but the mountains constitute a climatic divide, representing a transition from the monsoon climate of the Indian subcontinent to the dry continental climate of Central Asia.

The upper Indus River valley

The valley of the upper Indus River is a well-defined feature that follows the geologic strike (structural trend) westward from the Tibetan border to the point in the Pakistani sector of Kashmir where the river rounds the great mountainous mass of Nanga Parbat to run southward in deep gorges that cut across the strike. In its upper reaches the river is flanked by gravel terraces; each tributary builds an alluvial fan out into the main valley. The town of Leh stands on such a fan, 11,500 feet (3,500 metres) above sea level, with a climate characterized by an almost total lack of precipitation, by intense insolation (exposure to sunlight), and by great diurnal and annual ranges of temperature. Life depends on meltwater from the surrounding mountains, and vegetation is alpine (i.e., consists of species above the tree line), growing on thin soils.

The Karakoram Range

The great granite-gneiss massifs of the Karakoram Range—which straddles the Indian and Pakistani sectors of Kashmir—contain some of the world’s highest peaks. Those include K2 (also called Mount Godwin Austen) on the border of the Pakistani sector and one of the Chinese-administered enclaves, with an elevation of 28,251 feet (8,611 metres); at least 30 other peaks exceed 24,000 feet (7,300 metres). The range, which is still heavily glaciated, rises starkly from dry desolate plateaus that are characterized by extremes of temperature and shattered rock debris. The Karakoram, along with other areas in and around the Himalayan region, is often called the “roof of the world.”

Animal life

Among the wild mammals found in the state are the Siberian ibex, the Ladakh urial (a species of wild sheep with a reddish coat), the rare hangul (or Kashmir stag) found in Dachigam National Park, the endangered markhor (a large goat) inhabiting mainly protected areas of the Pir Panjal Range, and black and brown bears. There are many species of game birds, including vast numbers of migratory ducks.

People

The cultural, ethnic, and linguistic composition of Jammu and Kashmir varies across the state by region. About two-thirds of the population adheres to Islam, a greater proportion than in any other Indian state; Hindus constitute most of the remaining third. There also are small minorities of Sikhs and Buddhists. Urdu is the state’s official language.

Jammu, winter capital of the maharajas (the former Hindu rulers of the region) and second largest city in the state, was historically the seat of the Dogra dynasty. More than two-thirds of the region’s residents are classified as Hindu. Most of Jammu’s Hindus live in the southeastern portion of the region and are closely related to the Punjabi-speaking peoples in Punjab state; many speak the Dogri language. The majority of the state’s Sikhs also live in the Jammu region. To the northwest, however, the proportion of Muslims increases, with Muslims making up a dominant majority in the area around the western town of Punch.

Kashmiris of the vale and highlands

The Vale of Kashmir, surrounded by the highlands of the broader Kashmir region, always has had something of a unique character. The vast majority of the people are Muslims who speak Kashmiri or Urdu. Culturally and ethnically, their closest links are with peoples in the northwestern highlands of the Gilgit area (in the Gilgit-Baltistan district) of the Pakistani-administered sector of Kashmir. The Kashmiri language is influenced by Sanskrit and belongs to the Dardic branch of Indo-Aryan languages, which also are spoken by the various hill peoples of Gilgit; Kashmiri has rich folklore and literary traditions. The great majority of the population resides in the lower reaches of the vale. Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir’s largest city, is located on the Jhelum River.

Ladakh

The Great Himalayas are an ethnic and cultural as well as physical divide. The portion of the Ladakh area (sometimes called “Little Tibet”) located in northeastern Jammu and Kashmir is thinly populated. To the east, around Leh, the inhabitants are predominantly Buddhists of Tibetan ancestry who speak a Tibeto-Burman language (Ladakhi). In the region around Kargil to the west, however, the population is predominantly Muslim, most belonging to the Shīʿite branch of Islam.

Settlement patterns

The state’s physiographic diversity is matched by a considerable variety of human occupation. In the plains and foothills of the southwestern region, colonization movements from the Punjab areas over a long period of time have produced numerous agricultural settlements. In the dun regions and lower valleys of the foothills, where alluvial soils and the availability of water for irrigation make agriculture possible, the population is sustained by crops of wheat and barley, which are gathered in the spring (rabi) harvest, and of rice and corn (maize), gathered in the late summer (kharif) harvest; livestock also are raised. The upper sections of the valleys support a sparser population that depends on a mixed economy of corn, cattle, and forestry. Herders migrate to higher pastures each spring to give their flocks the necessary forage to produce milk and clarified butter, or ghee, for southern lowland markets. In winter the hill dwellers return to lower areas to work in government-owned forests and timber mills. Agricultural hamlets and nucleated villages predominate throughout the state; cities and towns such as Jammu and Udhampur function essentially as market centres and administrative headquarters for the rural populations and estates in the vicinity.

Houseboats along the shore of Nagin Lake, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India.

Gerald Cubitt

Demographic trends

The population of Jammu and Kashmir continued to increase fairly rapidly from the late 20th into the early 21st century, growing by nearly one-fourth between 2001 and 2011. The state has remained largely rural, nearly three-fourths of its people living in towns and villages, but urbanization has increased. Nearly two-fifths of the urban population resides in the Srinagar region. The sex ratio is relatively poor, about 890 females per 1,000 males at the 2011 census, lower than it was in the 2001 census (900 females per 1,000 males).

Economy

Agriculture

The majority of the people of Jammu and Kashmir are engaged in subsistence agriculture of diverse kinds on terraced slopes, each crop adapted to local conditions. Rice, the staple crop, is planted in May and harvested in late September. Corn, millet, pulses (legumes such as peas, beans, and lentils), cotton, and tobacco are—with rice—the main summer crops, while wheat and barley are the chief spring crops. Many temperate fruits and vegetables are grown in areas adjacent to urban markets or in well-watered areas with rich organic soils. Sericulture (silk cultivation) is also widespread. Large orchards in the Vale of Kashmir produce apples, pears, peaches, walnuts, almonds, and cherries, which are among the state’s major exports. In addition, the vale is the sole producer of saffron in the Indian subcontinent. Lake margins are particularly favourable for cultivation, and vegetables and flowers are grown intensively in reclaimed marshland or on artificial floating gardens. The lakes and rivers also provide fish and water chestnuts.

Terraced rice fields in the Vale of Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir state, India.

Christina Gascoigne

Cultivation in Ladakh is restricted to such main valleys as those of the Indus, Shyok, and Suru rivers, where it consists of small irrigated plots of barley, buckwheat, turnips, and mustard. Plants introduced in the 1970s by Indian researchers have given rise to orchards and vegetable fields. Pastoralism—notably yak herding—long has been a vital feature of the Ladakh economy; breeding of sheep, goats, and cattle has been encouraged. The Kashmir goat, which is raised in the region, provides cashmere for the production of fine textiles. Some Gujjar and Gaddi communities practice transhumance (seasonal migration of livestock) in the mountains. In addition to supplying pasture for the livestock, the mountains also are a source of many kinds of timber, a portion of which is exported.

Resources and power

The state has limited mineral and fossil-fuel resources, much of which are concentrated in the Jammu region. Small reserves of natural gas are found near the city of Jammu, and bauxite and gypsum deposits occur in the vicinity of Udhampur. Other minerals include limestone, coal, zinc, and copper. The pressure of population on land is apparent everywhere, and all available resources are utilized.

All the principal cities and towns, including Leh, and a majority of the villages are electrified, and hydroelectric and thermal generating plants have been constructed to provide power for industrial development based on local raw materials. Major power stations are located at Chineni and Salal and on the upper Sind and lower Jhelum rivers. Jammu and Kashmir has vast hydroelectric generating potential, principally along the Chenab River in the southwestern part of the state but also including the basins of the Indus, Jhelum, and Ravi rivers. Although by the early 21st century only a relatively small fraction of that potential was being exploited, a large number of projects were in various stages of completion or planning that were intended to considerably boost the state’s generating capacity by the year 2020.

Manufacturing

Metalware, precision instruments, sporting goods, furniture, matches, and resin and turpentine are the major manufactures of Jammu and Kashmir, with the bulk of the state’s manufacturing activity located in Srinagar. Many industries have developed from rural crafts, including handloom weaving of local silk, cotton, and wool; carpet weaving; wood carving; and leatherwork. Such industries—together with the making of silverwork, copperwork, and jewelry—were stimulated first by the presence of the royal court and later by the growth of tourism; however, they also owe something to the important position achieved by Srinagar in west Himalayan trade.

In the past the city acted as an entrepôt for the products of the Punjab region on the one hand and of the high plateau region east of the Karakoram, Pamir, and Ladakh ranges on the other hand. Routes still run northwestward into Gilgit via the Raj Diangan Pass and northeastward via the Zoji Pass to Leh and beyond. Handicraft manufacture is also important in Ladakh, particularly the production of cashmere shawls, carpets, and blankets.

Tourism

Although facilities for visitors to Jammu and Kashmir have improved considerably since the late 20th century, the state’s potential in the tourist sector has remained generally untapped. Nevertheless, tourism has made a significant socioeconomic impact on Ladakh, which was largely isolated from outsiders until the 1970s. In addition to historical and religious sites, visitor destinations include the snow-sports centre at Gulmarg in the northern Pir Panjal Range west of Srinagar, the hot mineral springs at Chumathang near Leh, and the state’s many lakes and rivers. Mountain trekking is popular from July through September.

Transportation and communications

Transport within Jammu and Kashmir remains a problem, although the Indian central government has made a substantial investment in developing the state’s infrastructure. As a result of the India-Pakistan dispute over the Kashmir region, the route through the Jhelum valley from Srinagar to Rawalpindi, Pakistan, was closed in the late 1940s. That made it necessary to transform a longer and more-difficult cart road through Banihal Pass into an all-weather highway in order to link Jammu with the Vale of Kashmir; included was the construction of the Jawahar Tunnel, which at the time of its completion in 1959 was one of the longest in Asia. That road, however, is often made impassable by severe weather, which causes shortages of essential commodities in the vale. A road also connects Srinagar with Kargil and Leh. In addition, a route through the Pir Panjal Range that followed the ancient Mughal Road opened in 2010, significantly reducing the travel distance between Punch and the vale.

Jammu is the terminus of the Northern Railway of India. In the 1990s construction got under way on a rail link between Jammu and Baramula (via Srinagar) near the northern end of the vale. Work proceeded slowly, but by the early 21st century the segments had been completed between Jammu and Udhampur and from Baramula to just south of Anantnag (the southern limit of the vale), southeast of Srinagar. Srinagar and Jammu are linked by air to Delhi and other Indian cities, and there is air service between Srinagar, Leh, and Delhi.

Jammu and Kashmir’s remoteness and inaccessibility were major impediments to developing traditional landline telephone service. The advent of mobile telephony, however, transformed telecommunications in the state. The use of landlines there steadily dropped, while that for mobile devices grew dramatically to completely dwarf the older technology in numbers of subscribers.

Government and society

Constitutional framework

The state of Jammu and Kashmir retains a special status within the union government of India. Unlike the rest of the states, which are bound by the Indian constitution, Jammu and Kashmir follows a modified version of that constitution—as delineated in the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954—which affirms the integrity of the state within the Republic of India. The union government has direct legislative powers in matters of defense, foreign policy, and communications within the state and has indirect influence in matters of citizenship, Supreme Court jurisdiction, and emergency powers.

Under the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, the governor, who is the head of state, is appointed by the president of India and is aided and advised by an elected chief minister and a council of ministers. The legislature consists of two houses: the Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha), comprising several dozen members elected from single-member constituencies; and the smaller Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad), with most members elected by various groups of politicians, local administrators, and educators and a few appointed by the governor. The state directly sends six elected representatives to the Lok Sabha (lower chamber) and six members, elected by the combined Legislative Assembly and Council, to the Rajya Sabha (upper chamber) of the Indian national parliament. The High Court consists of a chief justice and 11 other judges, who are appointed by the president of India.

Health and welfare

Medical service is provided by hospitals and dispensaries scattered throughout the state, although accessibility to health care is somewhat lower in Ladakh than in other areas. Influenza, respiratory ailments such as asthma, and dysentery remain common health problems. Cardiovascular disease, cancer, and tuberculosis have increased in the Vale of Kashmir since the late 20th century.

Education

Education is free at all levels. Literacy rates are comparable to the national average, but female literacy is considerably lower than that for males. The two major institutes of higher education are the University of Kashmir at Srinagar and the University of Jammu, both founded in 1969. In addition, agricultural schools have been established in Srinagar (1982) and Jammu (1999). A specialized institute of medical sciences was founded in Srinagar in 1982.

History

The history of Jammu and Kashmir state in its regional setting, both before and after Indian independence in 1947, is given in the article Kashmir.

The decision by Hari Singh, maharaja of Kashmir, to sign the Instrument of Accession in October 1947—thus joining Kashmir to the Indian union—precipitated warfare between India and Pakistan that culminated in the establishment of the line of control (cease-fire line) in the region in July 1949. Jammu and Kashmir state thus became the territory that India administered on its side of the line. However, both India and Pakistan have continued to claim the entire Kashmir region, and tensions generally have remained high along the line. Fighting has occasionally broken out between the two sides, notably in 1965. China’s presence in portions of the area along the northern border of the state has also been contested by India. Meanwhile, the process of formalizing Jammu and Kashmir’s status as a state took several years and was completed only in 1957.

The pro-India Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) has governed the state for most of the time since 1947, with interludes mainly by the Indian National Congress (Congress Party)—notably from 1964 to 1975. The state has also been administered directly by the central Indian government for brief periods, although one such occurrence lasted for six years (1990–96). Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, founder of the JKNC, served as the first head of government (called prime minister until 1965 and then chief minister) until he was dismissed from office by the national government in 1953 and was imprisoned for 11 years on the grounds that he sought to separate Jammu and Kashmir from India. Abdullah later returned to government as chief minister, in office from 1975 to his death in 1982. His son, Farooq Abdullah, also served as chief minister (1982–84, 1986–90, and 1996–2002), as did Farooq’s son Omar Abdullah (2009–15).

Farooq Abdullah.

Courtesy of Photo Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India

Britannica Web sites

The northernmost state of India is Jammu and Kashmir. It is part of the larger region of Kashmir, which has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since the partition of India in 1947. The state is bounded on the northwest by the Pakistani-administered portion of Kashmir. On the northeast and east it is bordered by two parts of China-the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang and the Tibet Autonomous Region-as well as the Chinese-administered portions of Kashmir. The Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab lie to the south. Jammu and Kashmir has an area of 39,146 square miles (101,387 square kilometers). It is one of the least densely populated of India’s states. The administrative capitals are Srinagar in the summer and Jammu in the winter; they are also the state’s largest cities.